After missing out on Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole in the past two days, the Angels made sure they didn’t leave the Winter Meetings empty handed, agreeing to terms with superstar third baseman Anthony Rendon on a 7 year deal worth $245 million.
Rendon, who finished 3rd in National League MVP voting in 2019, joins a lineup already consisting of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Justin Upton, and one that figures to add mega-prospect Jo Adell at some point in the year. Coming off 3 consecutive years of at least 6 fWAR, Rendon adds serious firepower to a lineup that has traditionally struggled to produce past Mike Trout and solidifies a third base position that hasn’t seen stability since Chone Figgins. This move could open the door for the Angels to build on their newfound offensive attack and make trades for either Corey Kluber or David Price to head their young rotation.
Even though the whiff on Cole was viewed as an immediate failure of an offseason for Billy Eppler, the reality is the Angels had far more holes on the roster than an ace in the rotation. Although Cole would’ve been a phenomenal get, this allows money to be shifted around to address the entirety of the roster, as Jason Castro or Martin Maldonado could be added in free agency to fill the void behind the plate, and Hyun-Jin Ryu or Madison Bumgarner could be used to fill out the rotation even further. The Angels still have a chance to make this an incredibly productive offseason, and it starts with Rendon.
